


Not An Ideal Solution

by anasticklefics



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bondage, Brotherly Bonding, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29136579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anasticklefics/pseuds/anasticklefics
Summary: Klaus keeps asking Diego to tie him up whenever things seem a little too hard and he needs to see Dave’s face. It becomes the perfect opportunity for them to bond.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Not An Ideal Solution

**Author's Note:**

> This is an oldie from tumblr from 2019. I made up my own ending to season 1, with everything being solved, but with old demons still present. The tickling that occurs in this fic is not meant to be a solution to anything, but a mere distraction in the moment. I hope I made my intentions clear. I hope you like it!
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of drug addictions, relapses, death. Also tickling with restraints, in case that’s not your thing. Oh and spoilers for season one, of course.

When Klaus was struggling, he asked Diego to tie him up. It wasn’t an ideal solution, something his brother kept trying to drill into his head, but Klaus knew his limits, and therefore he knew his weaknesses, or so he claimed.

“Trust me when I say I only ask you to do this when it’s unbearable.”

Diego believed him.

He honestly had no idea why they all kept hanging around even after saving the world from the apocalypse. An old habit maybe, or a semi-misguided opinion that they were more in control if they were together. Or maybe he’d missed them all, but he wasn’t about to tell them. All he knew was that he spent more time with his siblings than he’d had in years, and that resulted in more than a few surprise visits.

Usually they were done by Klaus. Diego regretted the day he’d found out where he lived.

“How did you get in here?”

“I need your help,” Klaus said, ignoring him entirely. “Now.”

Diego paused, hand on the railing, one foot stilling mid-air on the way to step down the stairs. “What’s wrong?”

He wasn’t sure why he’d asked, really. Klaus was practically glistening with sweat, eyes unfocused, body shivering. He would be blind not to see that he was going through some serious withdrawals, having relapsed again, promising Diego over and over that he would stop as he’d picked him up from whatever club or alley he’d ended up in. The longest he’d stayed clean had been a week, but hey, at least he was trying now.

Diego approached him slowly, aware that he hadn’t answered his question. Klaus was holding onto a rope, the pink edges frayed, and Diego reminded himself not to ask why his brother had an abundance of tools to help restrain him. He truly didn’t want to know.

“Any preferences?” he asked as he took the rope from his hands, flicking it lightly on Klaus’ thigh. Klaus raised his brows, the wolfish grin finding his lips for a second so familiar to Diego that he had to smirk. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t care. Just immobilize me completely, please.”

The ‘please’ always got Diego.

He led him to a chair, placing a pillow on it to make it a little comfortable, at least. They never knew how long Klaus needed to sit there. It never needed to be said, but whenever he came to Diego for this it was to see Dave. He still hadn’t fully grasped how this new level of his powers worked, but usually, after a long week of trying to figure it out, he ended up here. Too exhausted to keep going, always itching for something to take the edge off.

Diego had subconsciously started looking forward to these nights. He never had the heart to leave him, unless he truly was needed somewhere else. Ben had, according to Klaus, said this was a good way to force them to hang out without having them admit they didn’t mind it. Diego hated how Ben was dead and yet always right.

“Did you manage to materialize Ben this week?” Diego asked as he started circling his brother, the rope in his hands. Thanks to Klaus he knew exactly how tightly to tie it, what would hurt, what would be merciful on his body while still keeping him in place. Leave it to Klaus to teach him this, of all things.

Klaus shook his head, eyes shut as he said, “No. Not even for a second. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have other people see him again either.”

“Now that’s the withdrawal talking,” Diego said, not knowing how to react whenever Klaus got down on himself like this. He had no qualms about calling himself a fuck up, but usually it was said with drugs in his system, his spirits high. Even though he probably always meant it, it was harder to listen to it like this.

“Maybe.” Klaus’ throat was working, his breathing a bit frantic. “Oh, shut up.” Diego glanced at the spot Klaus was now glaring at, trying to picture Ben there. “You’re not helping.”

“You know,” Diego said, circling his brother one last time before kneeling down to start tying. “I never asked. What was it like to suddenly see him?”

Klaus didn’t reply immediately. Seriously, if this was the price to get him to shut up Diego wasn’t ready to pay it. “It was… fucking terrifying.” He said it with a laugh, almost hysterical, and stared at the spot that was Ben for a while before laughing again. “Any sensible human would scream! You’re lucky I’m used to your face, ghostboy.”

It was always fascinating, watching his brothers interact but only hearing one end of the conversation. Diego finished the knot and stood up, pulling at the restraints. “Try to get free.”

Klaus squirmed, pulled at his hands, but was getting nowhere. He seemed calmer now, smiling excitedly at Ben and then, ultimately, up at Diego. “How long do you think it’ll take until I see him?”

Diego was thrown off by the question. “Uh, how long did it take last?”

“Too long.”

“Then hopefully it’ll be quicker this time.”

He’d managed to see Dave twice. Diego had left him alone both times, returning to a sobbing Klaus each time who refused to stay once he was free. Diego idly wondered if the relapses were caused due to him not forcing him to stay the night. He looked at his bed. It was big enough for both of them.

They were silent, except for Klaus occasionally moaning in agony. He was the sole reason Diego hadn’t tried a single drug in his life. They seemed too easy to get stuck to, so hard to get rid of. He watched his brother now, sharpening his knives on his bed out of a lack of things to do. Ben, if he was talking, was getting no response from Klaus whatsoever.

“Shit, shit, fuck.” Klaus twisted his body, eyes on Diego. “Talk to me.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Anything.”

“Okay.” Diego stood. He wasn’t sure why. “Luther wants to rebuild the mansion. I told him that we have to make it modern this time around because _seriously_.”

They spent the next twenty minutes like that, with Diego rambling and Klaus listening, a sheer contrast to how the rest of their lives usually played out. Diego was in the middle of a sentence when Klaus gasped, his absolutely miserable expression finally smoothing out into a smile.

Dave. It was Diego’s cue to leave.

See, whenever Diego left Klaus alone to talk to his dead love, he could only think of his own, only he didn’t have the luxury of seeing Eudora at all. It was moments like those that almost led him to pick up a bottle, but addictions of any kind didn’t look good on anyone, and so he ended up mopping and mopping the gym upstairs, enduring jokes that he was finally doing his job and giving them no response.

He never knew when to return. Each time it was a shot in the dark. When he inched the door open that night, Klaus was silent. He wasn’t even crying like he usually was. Diego approached him, finding a much calmer version of his brother than he’d left. His cheeks were wet.

“Wait,” Klaus said when Diego made a move to untie him. “Not yet.”

“I’m not gonna indulge in your twisted fantasies.”

Klaus let out a laugh. “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t always think of my dick.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“Just… give me a moment.”

“Should I leave?”

“No. Stay.”

Diego grabbed a chair and sat beside him this time, observing the silent struggle. Klaus’ sweaty face, the tears still occasionally falling, the tugging of his wrists. He stood again and went to grab him a glass of water, helping to pour it down his throat, wetting his shirt in the process.

“Oohh, cold.”

Diego rolled his eyes. “You seem overheated anyway.”

Klaus laughed, the pitch slightly off. “You’re right.”

“I usually am.”

“Don’t involve _me_ in your twisted fantasies.”

Diego poked his exposed belly, an old habit from when he’d first started wearing too short shirts when they were teens. “Shut your mouth.”

Klaus jerked, but couldn’t jerk away from the touch entirely due to his restraints. “Hey, that’s cheating.”

“What is?”

“If you’re gonna tickle me I need to give my consent.”

“Well, do you?”

Growing up, they hadn’t necessarily been an affectionate bunch. It was all about roughness; play wrestling and properly wrestling and slaps to backs and noogies. The only exception had been Diego and Klaus, who’d started having tickle fights quite suddenly after Diego had realized Klaus didn’t fully mind them. And with fights he meant very one sided ones, as Diego did, in fact, mind them.

They could all probably hear Klaus falling into hysterics in various rooms of the house throughout the years, but no one ever caught them doing it, and so it had remained their own thing; remembered even after years of no contact. Diego had joked about it being the perfect opportunity to give him a good tickle the first time he’d tied him up, but he wasn’t cruel enough to subject his brother to that.

Now, however, something lit up in Klaus. Almost like the thought was as good as the drugs, and while Diego knew a bit of tickling wouldn’t cure a single thing, he had hopes it would make this moment easier.

“Only if you go easy on me,” Klaus was saying. “I’ve never actually been tied and tickled before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“We need a safeword. Oh, I know! How about ‘apocalypse’?”

“Good luck saying that while I’m making you howl.”

“You’re right. I’ll shorten it to ‘apo’.”

“Works for me.”

Whatever Ben thought of their strange little habit, Diego had never known.

To be fair, tickling someone who was restrained wasn’t something he’d ever done either, and so it was weird to reach out and have his fingers dance over Klaus’ midriff without being interrupted. Klaus started squirming immediately, but Diego was being so gentle that the laughter didn’t start up until he’d moved upward, curling over his brother’s ribs repeatedly.

Klaus became a bit incomprehensible after that, forcing Diego to strain in case he missed the safeword. Stilling his fingers, listening, resuming the tickling, and then stilling them again. It caused a hiccup-like giggle fit to fill the room, Klaus all the while begging him to fucking _stop_.

But no safeword yet.

Due to the abundance of rope all around his body, Diego didn’t have access to all of Klaus’ sweet spots. His neck, however, was entirely bare, something they realized simultaneously.

“No, no, wait, wait!”

“Too ticklish there, huh?” Diego teased, fingers hovering on each side of his face, loving the way he squirmed.

“I’m dizzy, please not there.”

Diego backed off. “Maybe we should stop.”

“No, no, it’s _helping_.”

“It’s evidently not doing too much good if you’re dizzy.”

“I was dizzy beforehand, silly.”

Diego hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Klaus was nodding eagerly. “Yes! Please, Diego.”

“You must be the only person in the world who begs to be tickled.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“I won’t go on for too long, okay? It can’t be good for your circulation anyway.”

Klaus rolled his eyes. “Indulge me for a moment, will you?”

It was almost as if Klaus wasn’t going through severe drug withdrawals right now; their situation bizarre enough to make him forget. He was sure Klaus couldn’t forget though, and so he went to town again, fingernails raking down his side, his other hand poking at the part of his underarm that was exposed. He knew Klaus loved the sensation as much as Diego despised it. Loved the feeling of losing control in a way Diego could never stand. Klaus used to call him boring for not allowing him to ever get revenge, but his brother seemed to prefer being on the receiving end anyway.

One thing he loved though was how Klaus had never seemed ashamed of this. Whatever he was, embarrassed over his interests had never been one of them.

Diego stopped when he almost fell over due to a squeeze to his equally bare knee. “All right, that’s enough for now.”

Klaus, still giggling, managed to pout. “Aw.”

“You stink. You need a shower,” Diego said, crouching down to untie him. “If you stick around for dinner I can tickle you on the bed later.” _And keep you away from the drugs you’re gonna want to go find._

Klaus groaned. “Are you gonna cook? Because if I remember correctly the only thing you can do in the kitchen is grab the knives you’re gonna throw.”

Diego gave his side a tickle. “Oh, ha ha, hilarious. And no, I’m gonna order something.”

“I vote pizza.”

“Finally a good idea from you.”

Klaus tried to reach out with his newly freed arm, but he seemed too weak and so let it drop to his lap, shaking it a bit. “I can’t promise I’m not gonna sleep like a baby if you tickle me after I’ve eaten.”

“Good thing I got a perfectly comfortable couch then.” He’d figured sharing a bed would be overdoing it. They weren’t there yet.


End file.
